A very interesting article in ZeroHedge on the repatriation of gold reserves

This is a very interesting article in ZeroHedge on the recent moves by Austria, Germany and Netherlands to repatriate (from Anglo-Saxon custody) significant parts of their gold reserves (The equally interesting articles on these two transactions follow; note that the Germans have actual backstepped).

Its main point is that these moves denote that ‘trust is now very publicly fraying at the highest levels of the international monetary system’. In other words, trust between the German-dominated euro-core of the European Union and the special Anglo-Saxon axis of USA and UK is waning.

The moves also by China and Russia to bolster their gold reserves indicates that the fragility of the western-dominated international financial system is increasing.

It is equally interesting the link provided in this article regarding the looting on the eve of the 2nd Eorld War of the Czechoslovak gold reserves by Nazi Germany with the complicity of the West (and particularly the Bank of England and the BIS):

What Happens When You Hand Over Your Gold To The Bank Of England For «Safekeeping»

Austria Proudly Shows Off The 15 Tons Of Gold It Repatriated From London

On May 28, the Austrian Central Bank surprised the world when it announced that it too would follow in the footsteps of Germany and the Netherlands, and repatriate half of its sovereign physical gold, currently held almost entirely at the Bank of England, to Austria while transferring a modest portion in Switzerland by the year 2020.

Back then, the central bank headed by Ewald Nowotny said it took the decision after recommendations made by the Austrian Court of Audit in February, which warned of a «heightened concentration risk» linked to storing the majority of its reserves in Britain. At the time, the bank had argued the policy was warranted because London was a major international centre for the gold trade.»

In May 2015, the gold reserves held by the OeNB amounted to 280 tons, having remained unchanged since 2007. Austria’s gold reserves are fully owned by the OeNB, which maintains and manages them with utmost care. In line with the OeNB’s current gold storage policy, 17 % of its gold holdings are at present kept in Austria, 80 % in the United Kingdom and 3 % in Switzerland.

Recently, the Governing Board of the OeNB adopted the 2020 gold storage policy following a regular in-house gold strategy and storage policy review, while also considering the recommendations made by the Austrian Court of Audit. The cornerstones of this policy are as follows:

By the year 2020, 50% of Austria’s gold reserves are to be held in Austria (OeNB and Münze Österreich AG), 30% in London and 20% in Switzerland.

Starting from mid-2015, the new storage policy will be gradually implemented in keeping with security and logistical requirements.

A comprehensive review and, if need be, adaptation of the storage policy is scheduled for 2019.

The OeNB will regularly report on the progress in its upcoming annual reports.

What the central bank did not say, is that by repatriating its gold from the UK, it was implicitly confirming that trust is now very publicly fraying at the highest levels of the international monetary system, with first Germany, then the Netherlands, then Austria, and most recently China, all demonstrating they are moving and/or building up their domestic gold reserves, and withdrawing their gold held at either the NY Fed or the Bank of England, something hardly surprising for those who have read our article explaining What Happens When You Hand Over Your Gold To The Bank Of England For «Safekeeping».

Which is also why yesterday, with great fanfare, Austria proudly announced to the world that it has moved 15 tonnes of gold from London of its gold reserves as part of its aforementioned repatriation plan.

«By the end of November, the Austrian National Bank brought 15 tonnes of its gold back into its own vaults,» the OeNB said in a statement. A spokesman for the central bank said it had begun repatriating the gold from London in October.

According to Reuters, after the repatriation, Austria held roughly 65 tonnes of gold, or about 23 percent of its reserves, on its territory, the spokesman said. Around three quarters, 209 tonnes, were in London, he said, and six tonnes were in Switzerland.

«London and Zurich remain the most significant trading centres for physical gold,» the OeNB said in its statement, a point it has made before in explaining why it kept such a large share of its reserves abroad.

In the decades after World War Two, security concerns also played a part because international trading centres were the best place to make use of the gold if needed in the case of an international crisis, the OeNB said in its statement.

«Geopolitical considerations in the time of the Cold War also played a role,» said the central bank in Vienna, which was only an hour’s drive away from the Iron Curtain that divided Europe for four decades.

It would appear that despite conditions between the west and Russia deteriorating to levels not seen since the depths of the cold war, Austira is more confident it can withstand the renewed Russian «threat» by storing its gold in house, rather than «trusting» Goldman’s Mark Carney, currently performing his GS alumnus duties as the head of the Bank of England, with possession of its gold.

How times have changed.

* * *

But perhaps what was most surprising about the repatriation is that in order to «prove» the gold is indeed back, the Austrian central bank also released a 3 minute clip showing not only where the Austrian gold is located now:

… but where it is headed:

… how it is measured:

… how it is tested using ultrasound:

… while validating its Rand Refinery serial numbers (read more about the refinery that has processed one third of all gold ever mined here):

We congratulate the Austrians on have such access and transparency to their own gold: sadly, for some unknown reason, when it comes to the US gold held at Fort Knox, the secrecy over the past several decades has prevented any member of the media or public to observe the thousands of tons which the US allegedly holds in storage. On behalf of the general population.

We wonder: why do Austrians celebrate the arrival of their gold and televize it for the entire world to see, while the world’s allegedly biggest gold inventory remains a national secret, even, or rather especially, from those to whom it supposedly belongs – the citizens of USA?

On May 28, the Austrian Central Bank surprised the world when it announced that it too would follow in the footsteps of Germany and the Netherlands, and repatriate half of its sovereign physical gold, currently held almost entirely at the Bank of England, to Austria while transferring a modest portion in Switzerland by the year 2020.

Back then, the central bank headed by Ewald Nowotny said it took the decision after recommendations made by the Austrian Court of Audit in February, which warned of a «heightened concentration risk» linked to storing the majority of its reserves in Britain. At the time, the bank had argued the policy was warranted because London was a major international centre for the gold trade.»

In May 2015, the gold reserves held by the OeNB amounted to 280 tons, having remained unchanged since 2007. Austria’s gold reserves are fully owned by the OeNB, which maintains and manages them with utmost care. In line with the OeNB’s current gold storage policy, 17 % of its gold holdings are at present kept in Austria, 80 % in the United Kingdom and 3 % in Switzerland.

Recently, the Governing Board of the OeNB adopted the 2020 gold storage policy following a regular in-house gold strategy and storage policy review, while also considering the recommendations made by the Austrian Court of Audit. The cornerstones of this policy are as follows:

By the year 2020, 50% of Austria’s gold reserves are to be held in Austria (OeNB and Münze Österreich AG), 30% in London and 20% in Switzerland.

Starting from mid-2015, the new storage policy will be gradually implemented in keeping with security and logistical requirements.

A comprehensive review and, if need be, adaptation of the storage policy is scheduled for 2019.

The OeNB will regularly report on the progress in its upcoming annual reports.

What the central bank did not say, is that by repatriating its gold from the UK, it was implicitly confirming that trust is now very publicly fraying at the highest levels of the international monetary system, with first Germany, then the Netherlands, then Austria, and most recently China, all demonstrating they are moving and/or building up their domestic gold reserves, and withdrawing their gold held at either the NY Fed or the Bank of England, something hardly surprising for those who have read our article explaining What Happens When You Hand Over Your Gold To The Bank Of England For «Safekeeping».

Which is also why yesterday, with great fanfare, Austria proudly announced to the world that it has moved 15 tonnes of gold from London of its gold reserves as part of its aforementioned repatriation plan.

«By the end of November, the Austrian National Bank brought 15 tonnes of its gold back into its own vaults,» the OeNB said in a statement. A spokesman for the central bank said it had begun repatriating the gold from London in October.

According to Reuters, after the repatriation, Austria held roughly 65 tonnes of gold, or about 23 percent of its reserves, on its territory, the spokesman said. Around three quarters, 209 tonnes, were in London, he said, and six tonnes were in Switzerland.

«London and Zurich remain the most significant trading centres for physical gold,» the OeNB said in its statement, a point it has made before in explaining why it kept such a large share of its reserves abroad.

In the decades after World War Two, security concerns also played a part because international trading centres were the best place to make use of the gold if needed in the case of an international crisis, the OeNB said in its statement.

«Geopolitical considerations in the time of the Cold War also played a role,» said the central bank in Vienna, which was only an hour’s drive away from the Iron Curtain that divided Europe for four decades.

It would appear that despite conditions between the west and Russia deteriorating to levels not seen since the depths of the cold war, Austira is more confident it can withstand the renewed Russian «threat» by storing its gold in house, rather than «trusting» Goldman’s Mark Carney, currently performing his GS alumnus duties as the head of the Bank of England, with possession of its gold.

How times have changed.

* * *

But perhaps what was most surprising about the repatriation is that in order to «prove» the gold is indeed back, the Austrian central bank also released a 3 minute clip showing not only where the Austrian gold is located now:

… but where it is headed:

… how it is measured:

… how it is tested using ultrasound:

… while validating its Rand Refinery serial numbers (read more about the refinery that has processed one third of all gold ever mined here):

We congratulate the Austrians on have such access and transparency to their own gold: sadly, for some unknown reason, when it comes to the US gold held at Fort Knox, the secrecy over the past several decades has prevented any member of the media or public to observe the thousands of tons which the US allegedly holds in storage. On behalf of the general population.

We wonder: why do Austrians celebrate the arrival of their gold and televize it for the entire world to see, while the world’s allegedly biggest gold inventory remains a national secret, even, or rather especially, from those to whom it supposedly belongs – the citizens of USA?

———————————————————————————————–

The Real Reason Why Germany Halted Its Gold Repatriation From The NY Fed

Following the stunning announcement in January 2013 that the Bundesbank would repatriate 674 tons of gold from the NY Fed and the French Central Bank, a year later the Bundesbank followed up with a just as stunning revelation that of the 84 tons the bank was supposed to bring back home, it had managed to obtain just a paltry 37 tons, with only 5 tons originating from the NY Fed.

The Bundesbank explained [the low amount of US gold] by saying that the transports from Paris are simpler and therefore were able to start quickly.» Additionally, the Bundesbank had the «support» of the BIS «which has organized more gold shifts already for other central banks and has appropriate experience – only after months of preparation and safety could transports start with truck and plane.» That would be the same BIS that in 2011 lent out a record 632 tons of gold…

Going back to the main explanation, we wonder: how exactly is a gold transport «simpler» because it originates in Paris and not in New York? Or does the NY Fed gold travel by car along the bottom of the Atlantic, and is French gold transported by a Vespa scooter out of the country?

Supposedly, there was another reason: «The bullion stored in Paris already has the elongated shape with beveled edges of the «London Good Delivery» standard. The bars in the basement of the Fed on the other hand have a previously common form. They will need to be remelted [to LGD standard]. And the capacity of smelters are just limited.»

Or, simply said, generic pretexts for a failure to follow through with the Bundesbank’s original intention of redomiciling physical gold, especially after Zero Hedge posted in November 2012 proof of collusion between the 1968 Bank of England and the Fed seeking to defraud Deutsche Bank: ‘Bank Of England To The Fed: «No Indication Should, Of Course, Be Given To The Bundesbank…»

The charade ended with a thud in June of this year, when instead of continuing the farce, Germany simply gave up, providing an even more laughable reason why it can no longer even pretend to collect its physical gold located at New York’s 9 Liberty Street.

Germany has decided its gold is safe in American hands. “The Americans are taking good care of our gold,” Norbert Barthle, the budget spokesman for Merkel’s Christian Democratic bloc in parliament, said in an interview. “Objectively, there’s absolutely no reason for mistrust.”

And that was it: not a single word more from Germany on the topic of its failed gold repatriation initiative. Until this week, when Deutsche Bank – the bank which is Germany’s equivalent to America’ Goldman Sachs in terms of policy decision-making – once again revealed just what the true reason behind the failure of Germany’s attempt to bring its gold back. From Robin Winkler’s special report:

… the gold community paid great attention to the decision of the German Bundesbank to “bring German gold home”. At the beginning of 2013, the Bundesbank announced it would repatriate 300 tonnes of gold stored in the US by 2020. It is well behind schedule, citing logistical difficulties. Yet diplomatic difficulties are more likely to be the chief cause of the delay, especially seeing as the Bundesbank has proven its capacity to organise large-scale gold transports. In the early 2000s, the Bundesbank incrementally repatriated 930 tonnes of German gold held by the Bank of England.

Because if anyone knows what really happened behind the scenes in Germany, and inside closed doors at the Bundesbank, it is Deutsche Bank.

And there you have it: it wasn’t transportation, or «good delivery standards» concerns, or anything remotely related to Germany «decididng its gold is safe in American hands», but just the opposite: Germany was pressured to keep its gold in the US after a «diplomatic» line of communication was opened, most likely the result of the Fed making it all too clear clear to the Bundesbank not only who runs the show, but what the assured failure to repatriate Germany’s gold would mean for «price stability.»

Which has, for now at least, ended Germany’s gold repatriation demands.

Now the question is, just how will the US pressure the Swiss «diplomatically» to make sure its own gold repatriation referendum does not succeed. Because if Germany failed miserably to obtain 674 tons of gold in 2013, it is assured that Switzerland will find absolutely nothing in its quest to obtain more than double, or 1,500 tons, of gold as a successful November 30 referendum outcome would require.

Then again, considering it was Obama’s action that destroyed the Swiss banking sector after the US crushed the centuries-long tradition of «Swiss banking anonymity», this could be just the right action with which «neutral» Switzerland could finally take its revenge on the regime that cost it what was for centuries the primary source of capital inflow into the small and so very prosperous (until then) central-European nation.

A week ago, we penned «The Real Reason Why Germany Halted Its Gold Repatriation From The NY Fed«, in which we got, for the first time ever, an admission by an official source, namely the bank that knows everything that takes place in Germany – Deutsche Bank – what the real reason was for Germany’s gold repatriation halt after obtaining a meager 5 tons from the NY Fed:

… the gold community paid great attention to the decision of the German Bundesbank to “bring German gold home”. At the beginning of 2013, the Bundesbank announced it would repatriate 300 tonnes of gold stored in the US by 2020. It is well behind schedule, citing logistical difficulties. Yet diplomatic difficulties are more likely to be the chief cause of the delay, especially seeing as the Bundesbank has proven its capacity to organise large-scale gold transports. In the early 2000s, the Bundesbank incrementally repatriated 930 tonnes of German gold held by the Bank of England.

Some took offense with this, pointing out, accurately, that the gold held at the NY Fed in deposit form for foreign institutions had continued to decline into 2014 despite the alleged German halt. Well, today we know the answer: it wasn’t Germany who was secretly withdrawing gold from the NYFed contrary to what it had publicly disclosed.

It was the Netherlands.

This is the stunning statement made by the Dutch Central Bank earlier today, and which, all compliments to China’s rate cut, is truly the biggest news of the day, as it shows that one doesn’t need a referendum to repatriate their gold, nor does one run into logistic or diplomatic problems if one is truly set on procuring their physical.

As to why the DNB decided it was time to cut its gold held at the NY Fed by 122 tons? «»It is no longer wise to keep half of our gold in one part of the world,» a DNB spokesman told Telegraaf. «Maybe it was desirable during the Cold War, but not now.»

De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) has adjusted its gold stock location policy and has shipped gold from the United States to the Netherlands to spread its gold stock in a more balanced way.

Under the previous policy, 11% of the gold stock was located in the Netherlands, 51% in the United States, with the remainder held in Canada (20%) and the United Kingdom (18%). Under the new policy, the breakdown by location is as follows: 31% in Amsterdam, 31% in New York, with the relative holdings in Ottawa and London remaining unchanged at 20% and 18%, respectively. Following this adjustment, DNB is in line with other central banks holding a greater part of their gold stock in their own countries. Beyond realising a more balanced distribution of the gold stock across the different locations, this may also have a positive effect on public confidence.

Changing the distribution of the gold holdings across the different locations is not without precedent. From the end of the Second World War until the early 1970s, for example, DNB increased its gold reserves following the Bretton Woods Accord, mainly in New York. Since then, there have been other movements in DNB’s gold stock. The main reasons for this being the gold sales in the past few decades and the closure of the vaults of the Reserve Bank of Australia, as a result of which DNB shipped gold from Australia to the United Kingdom in 2000.

Sure enough, AP confirmed:

The Dutch Central Bank says it has recently shipped 122.5 tons of gold worth around 4 billion euros ($5 billion) from safekeeping in New York back to its headquarters in Amsterdam.

In a statement Friday morning the bank said that its 612.5-ton national gold reserve is now divided 31 percent in Amsterdam, 31 percent in New York, 20 percent in Ottawa, Canada and 18 percent in London.

«With this adjustment the Dutch Central Bank joins other banks that are keeping a larger share of their gold supply in their own country,» the bank said in a statement. «In addition to a more balanced division of the gold reserves...this may also contribute to a positive confidence effect with the public.»

This is how the Old and New gold allocation of the Dutch Central Bank look currently:

Note: the reallocation has already taken place, and is not – like Germany – subject to a 5 year period during which the NY Fed is expected to recoup the gold. So it can be done!?

As to when it was done, here is the NY Fed’s monthly reports of gold deposits by foreign entities: here we can see that while the 5 tons outflow in 2013 was most likely Germany, the recent surge in gold repatriation from Liberty 33 was the Netherlands. That said, only 57.5 tons of NY deposits gold has been officially repatriated through September, which means the October update, when it comes out, will be a doozy.

In the vaults at the Amsterdam Frederiksplein was until recently 11% percent of the total of 612 tons of government gold. That is screwed up to 31%.

For years there were major concerns of the gold was still there. This months of almost military organized gold shipments from Manhattan DNB wants a ‘balanced’ distribution of the national gold buffer.

In addition, DNB expects Dutch citizens more confident that enough of our gold is in their own ‘home’ to guide the country if necessary following major crises.

At that effect also highlights the German Bundesbank, which are gold also partially recovered. De Nederlandsche Bank has great silence in recent months retrieved 130 tons of gold bars.

Last week drove armored trucks back and forth towards the Amsterdam Frederiksplein. «It is no longer wise to keep half of our gold in one part of the world,» the DNB spokesman on the massive operation with gold bars to Amsterdam says. «Maybe that was during the Cold War still desirable, not now. »

In Amsterdam is recently 31% of the gold. In the vaults of New York is 31%. It remains. De Nederlandsche Bank carries no gold bars back from the protected storage in Ottawa, Canada, where 20% of the gold remains. In London, the Netherlands keeps 18% of all Dutch ‘sandwiches’ gold as nest egg.

Netherlands moved his gold in the past frequently. In the period after the Second World War until the early seventies the Dutch central bank bought gold to replenish its reserves. That was mainly focused on the vaults in New York, which are built to earthquakes and bomb attacks endured. Since then bought and sold DNB gold and earned it every robustly.

In total, 120 tonnes of gold valued at €4bn has been brought back to the Netherlands by ship, Nos television said. The high security reparations for the move took months.

Luckily, that particular vessel did not suffer any «boating incidents.»

And now that the Dutch have shown just how «easy» it is to repatriate one’s gold when not entangled in shifting alliances, diplomatic feuds, or suffering from «logistical problems» preventing one from collecting their gold, we wonder just how much more eager Germany or Switzerland will be to collect their own gold, or whether the Swiss November 30 referendum will decide to let countries like the Netherlands have a right of first refusal of whatever gold may still be held at the vault located 90 feet below street level at the New York Federal Reserve Bank (which as we reported a year ago, is connected by an underground tunnel to the JPMorgan precious metal which was located just across the street).